Did Richard Nixon pardon John “Songbird” McCain of charges as serious as treason and did our defunct mainstream media hide this horrific side of a man who would have been our president in 2008, save only for a Black being on the ticket? What is the truth here? “Colonel Ted Guy was preparing criminal charges against John McCain when Nixon took Admiral McCain’s little boy under his wing. Where are McCain’s 32 propaganda tapes that were made during Vietnam and broadcast over the radio to US troops?” asks Gordon Duff, a disabled, Marine combat veteran of Vietnam writing about the...

A Friday story in the Springfield News-Sun reported that a group of veterans and family members expressed outrage that a military cemetery in Cherokee County, Georgia was closed off so that a production company could film scenes from an upcoming Ang Lee Film, “Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk.” The position of the group is that turning a cemetery into a movie shooting location would heap disrespect on the honored dead. But the subject matter of the film, based on a satirical anti-Iraq War novel by Ben Fountain, may well push the envelope where it comes to disrespecting those who put...

Riddle me this, fellow Republicans. An NBC survey April 9 reports that a huge majority (70%) of Americans doubts that Iran will abide by any agreement to limit its nuclear arms–but a majority (54%) still thinks Obama will do a better job than the Republicans in dealing with Iran! A majority of Americans – 54 percent – trust Barack Obama to do a better job handling an agreement with Iran over its nuclear program, compared to 42 percent who say they trust the Republicans in Congress. But nearly 7 in 10 Americans say that Iran is not likely to abide...

An event held last Fri­day at the National Press Club and broad­cast live on C-SPAN 3 focus­ing on the U.S.-Israel rela­tion­ship fea­tured a num­ber of vir­u­lently anti-Israel speak­ers who made con­spir­a­to­r­ial claims about Zion­ism, the influ­ence of the “Israel Lobby” and much more.jeff-blankfort-summit-dc-cspan The event, dubbed as a National Sum­mit to “Reassess the U.S.-Israel ‘Spe­cial Rela­tion­ship,’” was spon­sored by anti-Israel groups If Amer­i­cans Knew, the Coun­cil for the National Inter­est (CNI), the Insti­tute for Research: Mid­dle East­ern Pol­icy (IRmep) as well as the Wash­ing­ton Report on Mid­dle East Affairs. Ses­sions at the sum­mit included, “How does the Israel lobby influ­ence...

Two protesters affiliated with the antiwar groups Code Pink and Witness Against Torture were arrested Saturday morning outside the home of former Vice President Dick Cheney in McLean, Virginia. The protesters were inside Mr. Cheney’s fenced property when police arrived, “and the homeowners said they were not allowed to be there,” said Fairfax County police spokesman Roger Henriquez, a local Fox affiliate reported. “Police asked them to leave or face trespassing charges.” Tighe Barry, 57, and Eve Tetaz, 83, were arrested after refusing to leave the property, police said. Police did not know whether the former vice president was home...

I could have sworn we were going to war against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). But the president, a well-known theologian, has informed us that despite what the Muslims of ISIS say, the Islamic State “is not Islamic.” So I guess we’re in a war against SIS — the State of Iraq and Syria. But it still is a war, isn’t it, Mr. Secretary Kerry? “I think that’s the wrong terminology,” he sniffed yesterday. “What we are engaging in is a very significant counterterrorism operation.” Does that make it … a police action? Will we have to...

In "Insatiable" the Economist says "The cost of stopping the Russian bear now is high—but it will only get higher if the West does nothing". Economist: Mr Putin has used the Ukrainian crisis to establish some dangerous precedents. He has claimed a duty to intervene to protect Russian-speakers wherever they are. He has staged a referendum and annexation, in defiance of Ukrainian law. And he has abrogated a commitment to respect Ukraine’s borders, which Russia signed in 1994 when Ukraine gave up nuclear weapons. Throughout, Mr Putin has shown that truth and the law are whatever happens to suit him...

Fred Phelps -- the founding pastor of a Kansas church known for its virulently anti-gay protests at public events, including military funerals -- has died, the church said Thursday. The 84-year-old died of natural causes at 11:15 p.m. Wednesday, according to church spokesman Steve Drain.

Many have wondered what happened to the anti-war movement since President Bush left office. We think we found it, at the Modern Language Association (MLA). Ten people attended the MLA session on “War, Scar: Representations of US Torture and Imperial Violence since Vietnam.” Philip Metres III of John Carroll College called U.S. government officials “armchair conquerors” because of their War on Terror in places such as Pakistan. As a professor, he recalled how one “sensitive student” wrote a poem on his tender childhood memory of his teddy bear as well as a reflective look at his bloodlust after playing violent,...

Lawmakers appear to be tentatively dividing into four camps over military action in Syria. Each square represents a lawmaker who has indicated how he or she might vote, and the sentiment of the quote is mapped across the four categories. Among the lawmakers mapped below are members of leadership and several "people to watch," a category comprising influential or opinionated individuals, committee chairmen and 2016 presidential hopefuls. Read related article. See something that needs updating? Contact Aaron Blake. Senate Against: 29, leaning NO 11 (total 40) Undecided: 37 For: 23 House Against: 150, leaning NO 103 (total 253). Undecided: 154...

As the full Congress returns to Washington Monday, progressive groups are again challenging the White House’s case for a strike against Syria. MoveOn.org released an ad urging lawmakers to avoid authorizing the use of military force against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime. A narrator says, “Don’t lead us down this road again,” while images and statistics from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are displayed in the background of the 30-second commercial, titled “Not Again.” The group created the ad after discovering that more than 70% of its 8 million members “firmly opposed” the strike, said Anna Galland, executive director...

Right now, the number of House Republicans planning to back the Syria resolution is stuck at about two dozen, according to the unofficial count several aides are keeping. “We’re not counting for the conference, but some of us are keeping tallies, and it’s looking horrible,” says a source within the leadership’s circle. “I’d say 30 to 40 Republicans, at most, are privately supportive.” In the coming days, insiders say, the number could tick up or down. Any fluctuation, however, will be based almost entirely on how the top players influence their colleagues. Since the leadership isn’t formally whipping, member-to-member consultation...

As we wait for Godot — I mean President Obama’s address to the American people on Tuesday night — it looks at present as if both the House and Senate will not grant him the “yes” vote that he is seeking on a Syria strike. I have read virtually every op-ed and argument on all sides of the question that have appeared, from people on both sides whose views I respect, and one of the problems is that there are good arguments to make on both sides. Today I watched Fox News Sunday, the impressive panel on Fareed Zakaria’s GPS,...

Sen. Rand Paul said Sunday he would not filibuster the president's request to launch strikes against Syria but that he would insist Barack Obama abide by Congress's demands if it votes to prohibit military intervention in the civil war. The Kentucky Republican told "Fox News Sunday" a filibuster would only delay a vote authorizing use of force. "I will insist there is full debate on this and I will insist that I get an amendment and my amendment will say that the vote is binding -- that the president cannot, if we vote him down, decide to go to war...

WASHINGTON -- Anti-war protesters gathered outside the White House on Saturday to voice their opposition to a U.S. military strike in Syria, calling their picket line one that Congress shouldn't cross as it prepares to vote on the issue. At least 150 protesters picketed the sidewalk in front of the White House and marched to Capitol Hill, chanting slogans like "They say more war; we say no war" and carrying signs that said a war on Syria would be "Built on a Lie." "There is a grass-roots uprising against the Democrats and the Republicans," said Medea Benjamin, a founder of...

Dateline Hollywood - In a carefully worded press release today in Hollywood, California, space aliens admitted that they abducted several Hollywood celebrities on January 21st of this year. Among the missing are the following, whose only appearances in public since January 21 have apparently been holograms: Sheryl Crow, Bruce Springsteen, Martin Sheen, Ed Asner, Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, George Clooney, Jackson Browne, Janeane Garofalo, Neil Young, Jessica Lange, Barbra Streisand, Danny Glover, and Susan Sarandon. While many have wondered during the last several days why there has been no outcry of anti-war sentiment from these previously very vocal crusaders for...

A mere 72 hours after President Obama delivered an encomium honoring the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, he announced his intention to pound yet another country with bombs. The oxymoron last week was noteworthy for how little attention it received. Yes—a president memorialized an anti-war activist who derided the U.S. government as “the greatest purveyor of violence in the world.” Then then that same president quickly proposed yet more violence—this time in Syria. Among a political press corps that rarely challenges the Washington principle of “kill foreigners first, ask questions later,” almost nobody mentioned the contradiction. Even worse, as...

Opponents of President Barack Obama's plan to launch air strikes against the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad believe they have momentum on their side. Seasoned anti-war protesters hope this momentum will manifest itself Saturday, when they march from the White House to Capitol Hill. "The fact that [constituent advocacy] is making a political impact in Congress may give people a sense of power and that could make people more likely to participate," Eugene Puryear, a national organizer for the ANSWER Coalition - whose acronym stands for Act Now to Stop War and End Racism - told U.S. News. [GRAYSON:...

Guys, does it seem strange that the left is taking the lead with the protests this time? Shouldn't we tea party/conservative folk also be "on the streets?" or have we lost our passion? Where are the organized Tea Parties against War (and then Obamacare/Amnesty)? I know that Tea Party Patriots, is organizing one on the 10th: http://www.exemptamerica.com/ but shouldn't we be protesting against a war that would support Al Qaeda, and needlessly spend American money, lives, and even Syrian lives for "the President's honor"? Be darned that we are allying on this one issue with the lefties, we'll fight them...

As Harry Reid pushes for a Syria vote next week in the Senate, he and President Barack Obama face a major challenge convincing liberal Democrats to support them. Sens. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) opposed the resolution authorizing military action in Syria during the Senate Foreign Relations Committee vote on Wednesday afternoon. Another liberal Democrat, Ed Markey of Massachusetts, voted present. The Democratic resistance demonstrates the uphill battle that the Senate majority leader and Obama face on the Senate floor. Reid needs 60 votes to cut off an expected filibuster, and so far, it’s unclear whether he can...

It’s 9:15 on Tuesday night and Capitol Hill is quiet as Senator Rand Paul emerges from Fox News’s studio near Union Station. His face is slightly smeared with powder from his appearance minutes earlier on Hannity, and Sergio Gor, a political aide, is trailing him. Paul walks quickly to the street, heading toward his nearby apartment. It’s been a long day for him, starting with a flight from Kentucky and followed by a packed afternoon at the Foreign Relations Committee. He’s eager to get to his place, rest up, and get ready for a busy week of debate. But then...

Barack Obama ran for president as the last of the red-hot pacifists, so it might have sounded preposterous to predict that after a few security briefings at the White House, President Obama would follow in the same policy footsteps of horrid warmonger George Bush, with his anti-terrorist wars and strategies. So where is the anti-war movement now? "What anti-war movement?" former Congressman Dennis Kucinich asked when called for comment last week. Medea Benjamin of the radical group Code Pink agreed: "The antiwar movement is a shadow of its former self under the Bush years." Cindy Sheehan quipped, "The 'anti-war left'...

The whip count on Syria has become like the war itself: No one in Washington wants to own it alone. While most top congressional leaders have vowed to back President Barack Obama in seeking authority to launch missile strikes, there’s little evidence that they can — or even want to — help him round up the rank-and file-Republicans he’ll need to win a vote in the House. Speaker John Boehner’s spokesman said that he “expects the White House to provide answers to members’ questions and take the lead on any whipping effort.” Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), whose aides and...

To all: I think it's high time we GOT OUT THERE ON THE STREET and protest Obama and his warmonger pals in Congress. WE have no business backing rebels and (even a regime if we change sides) in SYRIA! Why should we spend our blood and money to support Al Quaeda; the same people responsible for killing thousands of Americans on 9/11 and then thousands more around the world and in Iraq and Afghanistan since then!~ Has this government gone INSANE? It's time we took to the streets to demand our own "Line in the sand" AGAINST War in Syria...

Minneapolis, MN – After President Obama’s announcement that he will seek congressional approval for military attacks against Syria, anti-war activists around the county have been going all out to stop a wider U.S. war. Commenting on President Obama’s decision to have a war vote in Congress, Joe Iosbaker of the Chicago Anti-War Committee stated, “The U.S. has suffered a setback in their drive toward war with Syria. The opposition in the U.N., the vote in the British Parliament and the demonstrations across the country here has won a small victory for the anti-war movement. Now President Obama is going to...

If thereâ€™s one thing Americans love, itâ€™s a good anti-war protest. With a tradition dating back to the Vietnam war, you barely have to hint at the idea that you might be considering firing a volley over somebodyâ€™s fence and youâ€™ll have crowds of people taking to the streets singing old Beatles tunes. So now, with Barack Obama poised on the verge of launching an attack on Syria, our old friends are out there taking to the streets to give Obama an earful. Right? Right? Anyone? Beuller? How about Rick Moran? Anti-war groups like Code Pink and Peace Action arenÂ’t...

The years of George W. Bush’s presidency made for fun and exciting viewing of a variety of anti-war groups protesting Bush’s foreign policy and never-ending “military engagements” that taxpayers are still on the hook to pay for. But as Barack Obama continues the drumbeat of war against Syria, where is the outrage from protest groups like Code Pink? Apparently, these groups are flat out of money. It also does not help that a Democrat is now in the White House, which takes much of the fodder out of their purely hypocritical and entirely hollow cries for so-called “peace”. According to...

The CIA has released documents which for the first time formally acknowledge its key role in the 1953 coup which ousted Iran's democratically elected Prime Minister, Mohammad Mossadeq. The documents were published on the independent National Security Archive on the 60th anniversary of the coup. They come from the CIA's internal history of Iran from the mid-1970s. "The military coup... was carried out under CIA direction as an act of US foreign policy," says one excerpt. The US role in the coup was openly referred to by then US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright in 2000, and by President Barack...

In his second term, Richard Nixon had Watergate, but also the rescue of Israel in the Yom Kippur War. In his second term, Ronald Reagan had Iran-Contra, but also a treaty eliminating U.S. and Soviet missiles in Europe, his "tear-down-this-wall" moment in Berlin and his lead role in ending the Cold War. In his second term, Bill Clinton had Monica, but also came close to a peace treaty between Ehud Barak and Yasser Arafat. Obama's second-term scandals — IRS, Benghazi, wiretapping The Associated Press and Fox — are in the low-kiloton range compared to the resignation of Nixon or the...

If the Senate immigration bill came up for a vote in the House, it would probably pass — some of the Republicans and almost all of the Democrats would combine for 218 votes. But conservatives have extracted promises from John Boehner not to let that happen, and the Speaker has dutifully pledged to keep the House from voting on any bill that lacks the support of most Republicans. That would seem to make comprehensive reform pretty dead, right? Except Paul Ryan, who clearly wants to pass a bill, floated a way around this promise: -snip- So the plan he's discussing...

A reporter claiming to work for Al Jazeera was involved in a violent confrontation with Washington, D.C., police on Tuesday evening after he was ejected from a pro-Israel conference for surreptitiously videotaping attendees and events, according to eyewitnesses. Reporters identified as Matthew Cassel and Micah Garen were ejected from the Christians United for Israel’s (CUFI) annual D.C. gathering after they were caught infiltrating and clandestinely filming events closed to the press. The reporters, who claimed to be affiliated with Al Jazeera, were initially denied press credentials for the event due to what a CUFI official said is Al Jazeera’s anti-Israel...

Sen. Lindsey Graham told a "cheering" audience Tuesday that if the relationship between the U.S. and Iran doesn't improve by the end of summer, he will ask Congress to authorize going to war."If nothing changes in Iran, come September, October, I will present a resolution that will authorize the use of military force to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear bomb," the South Carolina Republican said, according to a post on CQ Roll Call, at a conference for members of Christians United for Israel today. "The only way to convince Iran to halt their nuclear program is to make it...

In the wake of the 2012 election, one point on which practically all Republicans seemed to agree was that their party's presidential-nomination process was broken. Supporters of the GOP's eventual nominee, Mitt Romney, believed that the nature of the process weakened him for the general election. The party's base of conservative activists, meanwhile, believed that the process favored the candidates with the most money, and therefore the views of (often less conservative) wealthy donors. More moderate Republicans thought the process elevated a parade of unserious firebrands who were never real contenders, thereby damaging the party's image with swing voters. And...

Talk about your America-hating media members. On the final episode of the syndicated Chris Matthews Show Sunday, Andrew Sullivan actually said that - to laughter from many in the studio - â€świth any luck,â€ť America wonâ€™t be a superpower in 20 years (video follows with transcript and commentary):Andrew Sullivan: Â‘With Any LuckÂ’ America WonÂ’t Be a Superpower in 20 Years CHRIS MATTHEWS, HOST: Andrew, are we going to be - being we Americans, you included - are we going to be the great, are we still going to use that word superpower? I don't even like it very much. The...

Rand Paul is the most interesting contender for the Republican nomination. And when I say interesting, I mean that in the broadest sense. A case in point: Last week, the Kentucky senator hit some turbulence when the Washington Free Beacon reported that Jack Hunter, Paul’s aide and the co-author of his book, The Tea Party Goes to Washington, was once the Southern Avenger. Who’s that? Starting in the 1990s, as a radio shock-jock, Hunter would wear a wrestling mask made from a Confederate flag, while making jokes about the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and having the South re-secede. “Although Lincoln’s...

FRANKFORT — Kentucky Democratic Party Chairman Dan Logsdon called on U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell Wednesday to condemn U.S. Sen. Rand Paul's hiring of a staffer with a history of making controversial comments about race. Washington Free Beacon, a conservative online publication, reported Tuesday that Paul staffer Jack Hunter is a former talk-radio host who called himself the "Southern Avenger" and is a former member of the League of the South, a group that advocates Southern secession. "Senator McConnell likes Republicans to call him leader, and he has made himself heard on every issue he deems of consequence, real...

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., defended a Senate aide who once espoused pro-secession and neo-Confederate views, calling him “incredibly talented” during an interview with the Huffington Post. The Washington Free Beacon Tuesday reported that Jack Hunter, who serves as social media director for Paul, once worked as a radio shock jock for two different stations in Charleston, S.C., advocating for secession and the Confederacy. Hunter, who helped write Paul’s book “The Tea Party Goes to Washington,” called himself the “Southern Avenger” and wore a Confederate flag mask at public appearances. “People are calling him a white supremacist,” Paul said in an...

Modest spending cuts that were put into place March 1 due to sequestration have mostly failed to result in the economic doom predicted by Keynesians. Now the defense industry is working to undo those cuts. Jeremy Herb of The Hill has reported on lobbying industries going up to Capitol Hill, redoubling their efforts to restore budget cuts: Cord Sterling, vice president of legislative affairs for the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA), said his group is working to articulate the damage from the cuts that are now beginning to take hold. They remain hopeful that a fix is on the horizon. ......

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama was interrupted three times by a woman who shouted about drones and detainees in Cuba as he delivered a speech on national security. The woman was identified as Medea Benjamin from the anti-war group Code Pink. Benjamin yelled from behind a bank of cameras before security removed her from the hall at National Defense University in Washington.

Peter Weller on Star Trek, Getting His Ph.D., and Defending J.J. Abrams by Bilge Ebiri If you saw Star Trek Into Darkness this weekend and couldn't quite place Peter Weller, the actor playing Starfleet Admiral Marcus, allow us to refresh your memory: Weller starred in two of the biggest cult films of the eighties, Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai and RoboCop, as well as in David Cronenberg’s adaptation of William S. Burroughs's The Naked Lunch. He's also had supporting parts on 24, Dexter, Fringe, and House. And if that weren’t enough, the man is currently finishing up a Ph.D. in art...

Libertarian activist and radio host Adam Kokesh is hoping to get 1,000 people to march on Washington on July 4 — armed with loaded rifles. The plan, launched with a Facebook group today, is to gather on the Virginia side of the Potomac, where gun laws are lax, and then march across the bridge with loaded rifles slung over their shoulders into the District, where openly carrying weapons is generally prohibited. “This will be a non-violent event,” the Facebook group warns, “unless the government chooses to make it violent.” Already, over 200 people have said they’ll attend the march. Here’s...

Although real-life circumstances of late may prove more illuminating to them than any words could be, students at Hilo High School will receive a presentation from peace activist Jim Albertini on 'participating in a democracy'

Obamaâ€™s Amazing AchievementsHis military intervention prompted some stunning reversals. By bombing Libya, President Obama has accomplished some things once thought absolutely impossible in America:(a) War-mongering liberals: Liberals are now chest-thumping about military â€śprogressâ€ť in Libya. Even liberal television and radio commentators cite ingenious reasons why an optional, preemptive American intervention in an oil-producing Arab country, without prior congressional approval or majority public support â€” and at a time of soaring deficits â€” is well worth supporting, in a sort of â€śmy president, right or wrong,â€ť fashion. Apparently, liberal foreign policy is returning to the pre-Vietnam days of the hawkish â€śbest...

Sometimes the news is what didn’t happen. It is worth noting, then, that Joan Wile and her cadre of graying activists did not stand curbside on Fifth Avenue late Wednesday afternoon in protest against America’s wars. In mid-November, after an almost-unbroken run of Wednesday vigils going back nearly nine years, this group, known as Grandmothers Against the War, decided to call it a day. What had gotten them started, the war in Iraq, was over. While the other war, in Afghanistan, does go on, it draws ever scanter attention. That was the case even in the presidential campaign. (Headline in...

The late George McGovern is best known for his disastrous 1972 campaign for the presidency which was built around his opposition to American intervention in Vietnam. Less well known was his proposal for a military intervention just six years later.